


waiting for the right timing (and the right one)

by jjokkiri



Series: monsta x bingo: rare pairs edition [3]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Monsta X Bingo, Neighbours, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-03 20:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12154014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjokkiri/pseuds/jjokkiri
Summary: Changkyun goes through a breakup. Minhyuk tries to help.Sort of.





	waiting for the right timing (and the right one)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the _Neighbours_ square of [Monsta X Bingo: Rare Pairs Edition](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/MXrarepairingsbingo/).

Through the thin walls of the apartment building, Lee Minhyuk could hear the sound of sniffling; someone was crying. He’d just gotten home from his shift at the daycare, and he’d taken his time to take a long shower. Through the sound of water falling down against him though, he could hear the sound of his neighbour yelling—most likely at his boyfriend; they were fighting often, recently. The noise had died down while he was in the shower, and now, only the sound of soft sniffling filled the silence across the thin walls of the apartment.

He felt sad—the sound of tears was always a sure-fire way to break his heart.

Minhyuk had been living in the complex for several months, because he’d gotten a job at the daycare near the local university. As a recent graduate, it was one of the best places he could find. The rent was pretty cheap and everything was reasonably close to the building—it was a good location, and he knew his neighbours well; they were all quite friendly. He lived in the apartment at the end of the hallway and only had one neighbour. The boy who lived to his right had been there for much longer than he had been and had been the first person to greet him when he moved in.

His neighbour was a pretty, twenty-two year old boy in his first semester of his fourth (and final) year of university, majoring in musical composition. His name was Im Changkyun, and he worked at a recording studio down the street from the university he studied at as a receptionist. Changkyun was quiet, but he was kind and a good listener—he laughed at Minhyuk’s jokes, when he’d come home complaining about the children not laughing at the jokes he told during his shift at the daycare (and the betrayal he felt from a bunch of five-year-olds). The young man was almost undoubtedly Minhyuk’s definition of an ideal type, but Changkyun was also _taken_.

Changkyun’s boyfriend was a fourth year student, and if Minhyuk remembered correctly, then he was graduating in a couple weeks—his convocation intended to be held during the second week of spring. His name was Lee Jooheon and as far as Minhyuk knew, they were good for one another. His boyfriend was a musical production major and they’d met when Jooheon frequented the recording studio which Changkyun worked at. They naturally grew closer in the younger man’s second year and Jooheon had asked him out near the end of Changkyun’s third year of study.

Picking up his phone, after taking his dinner out of the microwave, Minhyuk pursed his lips, considering sending Changkyun and asking if he was okay. Truthfully, from the sound of the sniffling, Changkyun was certainly _not_ okay, but he supposed it didn’t hurt to ask.

But, at the last moment, before he decided to send the text, Minhyuk left his apartment instead, walking to stand in front of Changkyun’s door. Hesitant knuckles rapped against the steel door of the apartment and he held his breath.

Waiting for Changkyun to open the door was somewhat nerve-wracking, and for someone who sucked at reading atmospheres, Minhyuk surprisingly felt awkward for interrupting Changkyun’s crying session. The clock in the hallway seemed to tick in time with the speeding of his thoughts through his head; Minhyuk’s mind wandered: _would he want to be interrupted if he was crying? Did it matter? Wasn’t it too late since he had already knocked on the door? Surely, he couldn’t be that asshole who would leave after knocking on the door._

After a long wait, the door finally opened—just a small crack, and Changkyun peeked out with puffy, red eyes. Upon seeing Minhyuk, he covered his eyes and bit down on his lower lip, “Can I help you, hyung?” he asked, quietly. Minhyuk’s heart broke.

“I…” he started, his mind suddenly blanking when he took in the sight of Changkyun looking so fragile, “I heard you crying… I just wanted to know if you wanted some company, since there’s no point in asking if you’re okay. You’re clearly not okay.”

Changkyun opened the door a little more, leaning against it and looking at him, “Some company?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “… My co-worker made some cupcakes for the kids, and he brought some for me to take home. You can come over and we can watch a movie and cry together, maybe?”

“Kihyun hyung did?” Changkyun asked.

Minhyuk nodded, “Yeah, he made them.”

Changkyun’s lips managed to curve into a small smile and he nodded. “Okay… if I’m really not a burden, then… that sounds _good_.”

 

 

 

Getting dumped isn’t ever a fun time, not even when you’re the one doing the dumping, Minhyuk figured, when Changkyun sat down on the sofa beside him. The red-haired man was seated on the floor, rummaging through his collection of discs—because he was that person that liked to collect physical discs, rather than continuously streaming things on Netflix.

Changkyun didn’t do the dumping, but from the story that the younger man told him, Minhyuk could assume that Jooheon had a hard time dumping Changkyun because of the emotional downpour that flooded onto the both of them. Changkyun was playing with the small orange furred kitten laying in his lap, sitting on Minhyuk’s sofa, lips tugged into a small frown.

“You didn’t tell me that you adopted a kitten,” he murmured, as the kitten nuzzled its head against Changkyun’s hand.

“I adopted her yesterday,” Minhyuk replied, nodding his head but not turning to look at Changkyun and the kitten. “I was on my way home from the daycare and I passed by the animal shelter that I used to volunteer at as an undergraduate student… and she was staring at me through the window. I couldn’t leave her alone.”

“That’s cute,” Changkyun murmured. “What’s her name?”

Minhyuk turned his head to look at the kitten, a small, fond smile on his lips, “Her name is Peaches. I think she likes you.”

That drew a small smile on the younger man’s lips—a small tug of the corner of his mouth into an amused grin. It had a warmth spreading across Minhyuk’s chest. Changkyun kept his gaze on the kitten, running his gentle fingers through the small animal’s fur, clearly deep in thought. Minhyuk had brought him a tub of ice cream, but Changkyun had yet to touch it.

“He’s graduating next week,” Changkyun told him, out of nowhere. “He never told me that he had everything planned out, and I always thought that we talked about everything together. We were really good for one another, you know? I thought he’d be the one I’d spend the rest of my life with, because we worked so well together. He was a composing major, working towards starting his own record company, sometime in the future—I major in music production… we literally could have been the power couple of the music industry.”

Minhyuk listened attentively, nodding his head, but not turning to look at Changkyun. His slender fingers flipped through the DVDs, reading the titles on the covers instead of listening to Changkyun’s dreams of a beautiful relationship with Lee Jooheon. He’d listen to anything else Changkyun wanted to tell him, but no matter how delusional of him, there was just something slightly upsetting about listening to _Changkyun_ talking about being in love with someone who wasn’t _him_.

“He said that he had a job offer in the United States,” the younger man said, playing with the tassel on the side of the cushion; free hand still stroking Peaches’ head. “He wanted to accept it, because it was one of the best opportunities for a new graduate. I told him that I was graduating in a year and we could be together afterwards, if we really wanted to. I could have gone to the States with him, after I graduated—it’d be a new life but we’d still have one another, right?”

Changkyun shifted on the sofa and Minhyuk saw his movement in the reflection of the television. Peaches jumped out of Changkyun’s arms, suddenly and ran towards Minhyuk’s bedroom.

The university student stared after her, sadly, “He said that waiting for him wasn’t going to be worth it, because I’m not even graduating yet, but I have a job offer in this city waiting for the day that I complete my degree. He said that he didn’t want me to give up that opportunity because it’s as amazing as his job offer in the United States, and if we were really meant to be, then maybe we’d meet one another sometime in the future.”

“I said I wouldn’t cry, if he ever broke up with me, you know?” Changkyun said, “I promised myself that when we first got together, because I thought he was way too good for me.”

“Well, there isn’t a point in pining after him, if he’s made his decision,” Minhyuk remarked, furrowing his brows. “I don’t think he was too good for you, if anything, I think it’s something similar to being the other way around—yet, you two were good for one another.”

There was a silence and Minhyuk cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like he’d said something wrong. Turning back to flipping through his collection of disks, Minhyuk bit down on his lower lip. _He really should watch what he was saying_ ; he silently reprimanded himself for getting too comfortable with his own words, because no matter how true they might be, it didn’t help heartbreak.

He could only hope that Changkyun wouldn’t get up and leave him.

After a moment, Changkyun broke the silence.

“Hyung,” Changkyun called, frowning slightly. Minhyuk looked up at him.

“Yes?” he asked, taking a moment to stare at the way Changkyun’s lips were pulled into little pout.

Changkyun held the tub of ice cream out to him, “I… can’t open it.”

Getting up and brushing his pants off, Minhyuk chuckled, taking the tub of ice cream from Changkyun’s hands and prying it open.

“… Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

 

 

 

Truthfully, the last time he dealt with someone going through a breakup was when he was still in university. He’d never forget about the time his classmate (and potential best friend) Yoo Kihyun came running to him and sniffling, because his placement at a kindergarten had ended and the children didn’t want to give him hugs to end off their time together. But, that was disregarding the entire fact that Yoo Kihyun wasn’t going through a _real_ breakup. So, perhaps, Lee Minhyuk had never dealt with someone going through a breakup before.

Thus, blaming him for awkwardly giving Changkyun a hug when the younger man started sniffling, instead of giving him tissues, was ridiculous. Minhyuk didn’t really know how to deal with crying people anyway, but Changkyun didn’t seem to mind the hug. However, he clearly looked guilty when he pulled away from Minhyuk’s shoulder and the material of his shirt was drenched in tears.

But, half a tub of ice cream (and about a litre of tears) later, Changkyun was sitting up on the sofa and paying attention to the movie again. Peaches was back in the living room, comfortably taking a nap in Changkyun’s lap—the younger man had been thrilled to know that the kitten hadn’t decided to completely abandon him for the safety and comfort of Minhyuk’s bed.

Minhyuk was behind him, headed to the kitchen to grab Changkyun a napkin to wipe up the melted ice cream (surprisingly, without Minhyuk freaking out about his expensive sofa). Had Peaches been awake, she might have tried to lick it up, but they were quiet and careful in an attempt to not wake her up from her slumber—Changkyun was insistent that she should have proper rest; he’d almost even considered inviting Minhyuk over to his place as to not disturb her, but decided against wanting to leave Peaches alone in Minhyuk’s apartment.

And when he returned to the living room, Changkyun spoke up, interrupting his senseless train of thought—apparently, he hadn’t been paying as much attention to the movie as he’d initially thought he was.

“You’re such a kind person, hyung,” Changkyun told him, voice soft and quiet. “How are you still single?”

Minhyuk chuckled, pausing in his footsteps and pursing his lips in thought, “How am I still single? I wish I knew, really,” he answered with a soft, amused laugh (though, the truth was that he already knew). “Well… I think I’m just waiting for the right one.”

Changkyun hummed, “Like, a prince charming kind of thing? Is taking care of the kids finally starting to get to you?”

Minhyuk bit back a smirk, “No. Maybe, I’m just the one teaching them all of this.”

Changkyun laughed at that.

“… maybe, Jooheon hyung wasn’t my prince charming,” Changkyun remarked. “Maybe, someday, I’ll find someone else and be happier.”

The red-haired man paused, letting his eyes scan Changkyun’s profile, before he bit down on his lower lip and took a soft breath.

“Sometimes, finding prince charming just means to stop pushing yourself forward to find new people, and taking a step backwards to take a good look at the people around you,” Minhyuk murmured, running his fingers gently through his own hair.

“Sometimes, prince charming is standing right behind you, and all this time, you hadn’t the slightest idea,” he added, eyes scanning Changkyun’s figure from behind. And then, lips tugging into a small, sad smile, Minhyuk finished, “That’s what I always tell the kids at the daycare, anyway.”

(But, when Changkyun turns his head and smiles at him, gratefully, he wished that his heart would calm the loud beating—he wished that he really did tell the children at the daycare things like that; wished that he wasn’t so hopelessly crushing on his heartbroken neighbour.)

**Author's Note:**

> this ship is my eternal guilty pleasure uwu find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/yuseokki), if you wanna?


End file.
